Monday, November 23, 2009

Tour de Florida Football Recap

327 miles driven
1 trumpet dropped on concrete
1 camera dropped on concrete
3 orange and blue glazed donuts consumed
2 football games in 2 days
2 tailgates in 2 days
1 Waldo sighting

Favorite Weekend Quotes:
"You suck... back up!"
"Gator Band Good!"
"What F*ck The?" (WFT not WTF)
"Squeeze hit!"
"Are you ready band, Hell yeah!"
"I want to set her purse on fire."

What a great weekend? I'm soooooo tired and at the same time feeling the need for some exercise. I ate way too much junk and drank enough to almost be worthy of living in Gainesville again. This weekend was the Gator Band Alumni Game. The University of Florida Gators (who are number 1 in the polls by the way) played Florida International University (a sacrificial lamb of sorts). The final score isn't important. We'll just say they could have had the Gator cheerleaders in playing toward the end of the game. The important part was the fun times. I got to see dozens of old friends, some of whom I had not seen in a decade since our old glory days as band geeks. This was the first year I've attended Alumni Band for the entire weekend and not just the game. Yes, they actually have a practice, a business meeting and a cookout, not to mention marching across the field at halftime with the real band to park and play a few songs. I lucked out and got a spot on the 50-yard-line only three rows back. Trumpets always get a kick butt spot on the field. I figured out a way to clip my Go Pro Camera in my music lyre on my trumpet for some interesting wide-angle shots. On Sunday I said farewell to my friends and Gainesville (ahhhh... what a great town) and drove up to Jacksonville for football day two! I rendezvous with some other friends to tailgate and attend the Jacksonville Jaguars game against the Buffalo Bills. Jags won with a game winning touchdown with 56-seconds remaining. Here's a few photos to recap the good times!



Let the tailgating begin!


One of my contributions to the Alumni Band tailgating... a recipe I found on Vancity Allie's blog. See it here under "The Most Absolutely Delicious and Moist Banana Bread Recipe."
It really is the most absolutely delicious banana bread and I'm totally making it again for Thanksgiving!






TEBOW! Need I say more?!?


Go Band!




Daniel and I before halftime. Two old trumpet friends!


"Gator Band Good!" lol... you'd have to be a band geek to get it. Can you spot me?


Can you spot Waldo? Where's Waldo?




Jags game!


It was a fun weekend, but like I said, I'm seriously feeling the need for some exercise. My Achilles tendon is still prohibiting me from running, but I'm going to try some long bike rides this week, perhaps some surfing and yoga. Happy Thanksgiving week everyone!

6 comments:

  1. Great pics! Sounds like a super fun weekend!!! :)

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  2. I'm not sure what I want to comment on first, so I'll settle with... that must be the largest loaf EVER of banana bread.

    I would probably (sadly) get many of the band geek jokes. Did I mention that I have a Bachelor of Music from Stetson?....

    Sad to hear that your achilles is still giving you trouble. Are you going to be able to run the Disney? :-(

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  3. Glad to hear the details of a fun weekend! I still live in the same town as my alma mater (but only for a few more weeks), so I can only imagine the excitement to be back with old friends... but I'm sure it's a great feeling.

    Thanks for sharing a few extra tidbit tales in your comment on my blog! :-)

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  4. I think it's awesome that you took banana bread to a tailgate. You're definitely an alumni cause I don't think any student would ever take that to a tailgate! Well, none at MSU, anyway! ;)

    Sounds like you had an awesome time! Maybe you've recovered by now!

    To answer your question, yes, I was at that game in 2000. I'm not a fan of some Florida fans, but it was a good time overall! Oh, the memories!!

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  5. Go Band Geeks! I'm ashamed to say that I'm not sure I'd still be able to play in an alumni band. I haven't played sax in years and not regularly since '97. :-< Waiting for my kids to be old enough (and numerous enough) for a full family band, I guess!

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  6. As a Gator fan, I'll admit they have not played very well in several games this year. However, when everything is on the line, I believe they can and will do whatever it takes to win. Gators should be always competitive enough to keep pace with the others. I used to attend their games even their tickets get sold out. Luckily I fond a good place to get my seat
    http://www.ticketsinventory.com/college/basketball/florida-gators-tickets/
    Go Gators!! Go Gators!! Go Gators

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